Former Manchester City captain Ilkay Gundogan is just one of five signings FC Barcelona plan to make for the upcoming 2023/2024 season according to SPORT.

The Catalans announced the capture of the German international on Monday morning in Europe, with the 32-year-old agreeing to a three-year contract that has a €400 million ($435 million) release clause.

Yet while the midfielder is the first signing to be announced for the first team this summer, Athletic Club defender Inigo Martinez already agreed to join Barca quite some time ago while Gundogan was mulling over whether to accept an extension from City or even take the big money in Saudi Arabia.

As Martinez is - similarly like Gundogan was until recently - also a free agent, he is expected to be the next capture announced by president Joan Laporta and his board.

Gundogan will likely operate in a more attacking role like Pedri, and it is no secret that manager Xavi Hernandez would like a more defensive "pivot" to replace outgoing skipper Sergio Busquets.

At present, Barca are trying to land a player on the losing side of the Champions League final won by ex-City captain Gundogan in Istanbul.

They have lodged an offer of around €15 million ($16.3 million) to Inter Milan for the Croatian's services, but he has a proposal of double this amount in terms of yearly salary on the table from Al-Nassr.

Barca would also like to incorporate Vitor Roque - the 18-year-old Brazilian striker at Athletico Paranaense for whom they have already closed a €35 million ($38 million) plus €10 million ($11 million) in add-ons "agreement in principle" according to Mundo Deportivo.

That already taking the tally to four, Barca would also like to seal a right back after being left short-staffed in the position.

Jules Kounde filled the role to great effect in the La Liga winning-2022/2023 season, but the Frenchman's preference is to play at center back and try and break up the strong partnership formed by Andreas Christensen and Ronald Araujo.

By making these signings, Barca should be much better equipped to improve on their Champions League success in the last couple of campaigns which has seen them fail to get out of the group on back-to-back occasions.